752 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



is so wide of the facts that it must be a mistaken theory. It places 

 man too high, and assigns to the various tribes of lower animals 

 too low a position in the moral and intellectual scale to agree with 

 observation. A wide and unnecessary chasm is thus placed be- 

 tween man and the inferior animals, when, in fact, the lower tribes 

 of men and the higher tribes of animals, such as elephants, foxes, 

 dogs, and monkeys, are not so greatly apart in the line of intelli- 

 gence and moral perception. Savages recognize this affinity. Thus 

 we are assured that certain tribes of negroes regard monkeys as 

 their near relatives, who have been deprived of the power of 

 speech on account of their mischievousness and badness. 



The wonderful manifestations of instinct are so remarkable 

 that the old theory ascribed it to God himself having directly im- 

 planted it, " from without and from above " ; but that theory has 

 been set aside by modern investigation, and it is now very gener- 

 ally recognized that instinct is the hereditary result of long ex- 

 perience. This being the case, all the manifold exhibitions of 

 reflection and reason, and careful, self-denying affection shown 

 by the various tribes of animals, must be ascribed to the work- 

 ings of their intellectual and moral faculties through long periods 

 of time. 



Dr. Mark Hopkins, in his " Scriptural Idea of Man," teaches 

 that man alone, among the animals upon the earth, is dignified by 

 the possession of what constitutes him " a person." Personality, 

 according to Dr. Hopkins, arises from consciousness, reason, and 

 a moral nature. Consciousness is defined (p. 48) as " the knowl- 

 edge of his own existence by a being who knows himself to 

 be. . . . Thus arises a knowledge of rights and obligations. . . . 

 Thus man is formed to rule over the lower creation. . . . From all 

 that is below him man is most widely separated" (p. 106). "Of 

 dominion over itself, over nature, or over its fellows, no brute can 

 know anything ; nor can it know anything of an intelligent me- 

 diation between nature and God. Being destitute of rational 

 and moral elements, the brute can not have the first dawning of 

 either of these ideas " (p. 103). 



In reply to these statements we observe — that brutes do rule 

 over themselves, oftentimes exhibiting remarkable self-control. 

 Nothing is more common than for the parent animal to abstain 

 from food until the young ones are provided for. Brutes do rule 

 over each other — scarcely any of the gregarious animals fail to 

 show this power ; it is true of monkeys, stags, elephants, bulls, 

 and birds in their migrations. The shepherd's dog rules over the 

 flock committed to his care almost as well as his master As for 

 dominion over nature, the brutes exercise just as much of it as 

 is necessary for their well-being and preservation. A bird that 

 builds its nest in a sheltered place exercises control over nature, 



